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In ancient Israel, traditional laws were passed down by word of mouth from teacher to student, from one generation of Sages to the next. The Oral Law was the traditional learning of the Pharisees, a religious sect and political party. The Sadducees were the religious and political rivals of the Pharisees. The Pharisees eventually committed Oral Law to writing sometime between two thousand and fifteen hundred years ago.

The Oral Law can now be found in the Talmud, which contemporary rabbis tell us is the primary book of law for Jews. Contemporary rabbis are directly attuned with the Pharisees of Jesus' time through long and intensive study of the Pharisaic teachings in the Talmud.

"The Talmud is, then, the written form of that which in the time of Jesus, was called the Traditions of the Elders." — Rabbi Michael L. Rodkinson
and"The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a break, through all the centuries, from the Pharisees." — Universal Jewish Encyclopedia

We will cover this subject in more detail in What Is the Talmud? To echo the thoughts of the Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth, it's time to learn about each other's faiths.

Four Avenues of Research into the Babylonian Talmud:

America Under the Talmud: Will It Work for US?by your hostess, Carol A. Valentine. — A secular and pragmatic view of Talmud law as it advances into American law and society. Each essay is amply documented from the Talmud and other Rabbinical and Judaic sources. Most of the Talmud tractates on which these studies rely are available here at Come and Hear™. Now you can learn about the Talmud in its full context.

The Jewish Religion: Its Influence Todayby Elizabeth Dilling — A Christian's critique of the Talmud as it interprets Biblical teachings. We have included hundreds of scanned exhibits and references to the Soncino Talmud and the King James Bible, each hot-linked to the source for this HTML presentation. It also contains images of the 300 exhibits from the printed book that Dilling collected from encyclopedias, State Department papers, periodicals, the Soncino Talmud, and rabbinical writings.

The Babylonian Talmud — A hypertext version of the Jews' College (London) translation of the Babylonian Talmud: Tractates Sanhedrin, Berakoth, Shabbath, Yebamoth, Kethuboth, Nedarim, Nazir, Sotah, Gittin, Baba Kamma, Baba Mezi'a, Baba Bathra, Abodah Zarah, Horayoth, Niddah, and Tohoroth. The Jews' College translation was published through Soncino Press between 1935 and 1948. It was the first complete English translation, produced by the most authoritative Judaic scholars in the world. It is the gold standard of English Talmuds, but chances are you won't find it in your local public library!

Rabbinic Commentary — An array of renowned rabbinical scholars help us get in touch with the ancient Sages of the Talmud. In their own words, these scholarly rabbis amplify, interpret, and present the most important aspects of the Talmud, and the application of its principles to everyday life.

Other Resources:

Supplementary Materials — A wealth of material from rabbinical and non-rabbinical sources to enrich the Talmud study experience.

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